Npc Dante's page

Sansa had listened to Jerem's words and delved deep attempting to sense/assess their truthfulness.

[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+7

Not looking at Dante, yet addressing him quietly all the same, Sansa asks, "Have you spoken with Corvina, brother? Is she responsible for bringing these creatures here or only possessing the bad stone? Think hard on your answer and speak truth."

nice roll! although his words are truthful, there is definitely something Jerem is not saying, perhaps hiding.

Dante looks at Sansa nervously, obviously worried about his friend.
"I don't think she brought the creatures. She gave me the stones...I'm certain they were meant for protection. As for the bad one...I don't really know how her magic works, but I don't think she would bring us ill on purpose."

Dante looks at his feet as Garrett makes his apology. He takes his mask off slowly and looks the other young man in the eyes.
"I understand your reaction. I'm afraid I don't know much more than you about the stone. I know that these stones..." he makes a gesture to the carved box tucked under his arm, "these ones, I think are meant to protect us, somehow. Corvina, well, she said the the other one went bad. I just figured I should take all of them."
The lanky boy's cheeks are red with embarrassment.
"I help her out, and she's kind to me, but..."
he sighs
"Half the time, I don't know what she's talking about."
then the rest of what Garrett had said seems to sink in on him, for his expression changes to one of worry.
"Do you really think that many people are in danger?"

Sansa hears the splintering wood and her mind begins scrambling to find a solution.

She looks about the room, searching for anything heavy enough to drag and cover the trapdoor and give them more time before the intruder actually broke into the Tower.

[dice=Perception]1d20+7

Hearing Dante pace and noticing him wave the dagger unsteadily before him, she gives him a stern look and commands in low voice, "Help me find something to barricade the door! And, stop waving that dagger about like that, lest you impale yourself."

Dante freezes for a moment. He lowers the dagger slowly, and scans the area as well. Then he shrugs. "I don't think there is anything!" he says in a panicked voice. "What do we do now?!"

Sansa:

It's likely that there are a few bits and bobs that Sansa has brought up from below to make herself comfortable...perhaps a blanket, a mug, a basket maybe some candles...I think it's unlikely that she would have brought up anything bulkier...It is possible she brought up a stool to sit on, but not sure even that would be heavy enough to block the door.

Sansa watches her masked brother and a shiver of annoyance (and something other) runs through her small frame. Why does he react this way...

"Dante, what about your magic? Do you have spells to aid us against the intruders?"

Sansa listens attentively by the trapdoor. Perhaps a voice or voices will carry up to the Tower and she will hear them and then know what more she can do.

She glances over to her brother, again. Waiting for him to find voice to aid her.

From below, Sansa can hear the sounds of combat, quick movement on the floors, and Garrett's last warning to the intruders. The smell of ozone is even more intense now, and she can hear a muffled but deep raspy sound on the other side of the closed trapdoor.

Dante finally stands and clasps his hands firmly on the smaller Sansa's shoulders. "Yes, I can give you protection. DDDDrrrrIIkhhhhh VuuuuRRT ReSHHHHHH!", he speaks the words and an eerie resonance, echolike fills the immediate area. When the echo quickly fades, a shimmerng, barely visible outline of blue surrounds Sansa. (mage armor)

Why do they all presume I need to be locked in a tower, away from harm?

Sansa's mismatched eyes dart from Garrett to Dante and back again.

To Dante, she harshly whispers, "None of your mutterings now, you hear me? I will protect you, but we must stay alive."

Dante picks the box up from the floor in front of him, and only bobs back and forth a bit from is seated position against the wall. His eyes shimmer with what could be tears of frustration from behind the mask. His only response, "Yes Sansa."

Still in his corner and looking down at the little assemblage before him, Dante speaks up, after Elarya has already begun her descent, but before Sansa starts. Picking up the mask and strapping it around his face, he pulls a small knife from his boot.
"Maybe the goblin knows what to do. Havak knows things about magic..." his voice trails off then.

Still focused on the sound below, Dante pulls into himself tighter.
"I don't know. I'm sorry."
Carefully, he sets the small etched box down in front of him. Then carefully and with both hands, he places his mask carefully next to it. Adjusting it slightly, so that they are almost exactly parallel, he runs his finger slowly down the dirty mask with one finger. With the other hand, a bit tentative, he touches the box more gingerly. It's obvious that the boy is unsure, and the increasing wind tussles his hair through the open areas of the tower just below the roof.
"Are you sure it's the wind? I have a bad feeling."

Dante winces at Garrett's outburst and his eyes begin to water a bit, but he does not cry. He looks at the ground then, staring at his feet, pulled close to his body. He runs his fingers roughly over the dirty cat shaped mask and sighs deeply. "I don' know. Corvina said it was bad, and I can feel that it's true. I don't know how, or why...but I can feel it. It's just...not right. Maybe I should have left it on the ground. Corvina gave me the other stones. I don't know how to stop it. I don't know what it does. Only that its bad."

BAM!

Below, on the first level, the door slams with great force, and Dante starts.

Sansa's KnowArcana:

Although she knows a great deal about Arcane magic and theory, this stone in particular is a mystery. In the lore she has come across, inscribed stones are mostly used as wards, meant to protect a place or person, if not used as a weapon. They are also commonly used in divinations, but in large numbers, interpreting how they fall.

Sansa's KnowPlanes:

If the stone did have some kind of planar power, she has no knowledge of how it would work, although she's free to wildly speculate...

Dante climbs the ladder very slowly, awkwardly holding both his mask and the box in his arm, and shakily pulling himself up with the other. If anyone asks to help him, he only clutches the items closer to himself, and says "No, it's alright." At one point he looks down, and a soft whimper escapes his lips. Sansa knew that Dante rarely came to this place, and when he did, he spent his time on the lower level. It was a mark of importance, then, that he was braving the 30 foot climb.
"Yes, the bad stone..." he says towards the top "We need to...
he goes silent as he pulls himself to the top. Seeing the stone itself. He becomes fixated, but quickly pulls himself into a seated position in the corner of the tower. What do i do now?

As he continued westward towards the watchtower, Garrett had the undeniable feeling that this whole situation was going to end badly. He wanted to call out to his father as he passed by the blacksmith but he knew by the tightened muscles of his jaw that now wasn't the time to ask him for anything. Helplessly, he follows the confusing boy to hopefully uncover whatever dark mystery he stumbled upon.

"Hm? Blood? Oh...no I don't think...We really should find it. I'm pretty sure it's this way." Dante says, pointing his chin ahead of him to the north. "The watchtower, I think." The boxed clutched tightly to his chest rumbles a bit as the stones move around with each step. He almost loses grip on his odd mask, but catches it, and with a sigh, continues walking, now with a bit faster pace.

"What isn't here anymore?" Garrett asks as he follows short behind the witch. He glances quickly at the speckled doorway before Dante quickly changes course. Again.

Perception:

while a quick glance doesn't get Garrett much information, two things stand out; Firstly, there is no other paint on the building, the wood is its natural color. Secondly, he knows the color of blood, having wounded himself many times in combat. Those speckles are definitely blood colored.

Once again turning but still in motion, Dante looks at Garrett this time with a look of frustration. The look reminds him of the look Erec would often get when doing drills. A look that things weren't working out right, and they wouldn't work out right.
"The bad stone. It's moving. I need to find it."

He continues to the west, stopping just outside the smithy house where Walace Shale and Everett Snow seem to be having a heated discussion towards the back of the workshop.

Dante stand still for several seconds, scanning the ground and air again, but soon enough begins following the road heading north to what Garrett can only guess is the watchtower.

The blood-blond fibers of hair on Garrett's neck lift and straighten as the awkward youth mouths something eerie and makes an unnatural motion with his bony fingers. "W-what are you talking about? Dante!" Garrett calls after scarred witch, braving a few steps closer.

Corvina plays the same type of game. It's a small wonder the two have taken such a liking to each other.

"Give me a single strait answer or I'll follow you to the watchtower and find out for myself!" he finally lashes out, hoping to secure a hold on Dante's attention. "You're obviously distraught over something. Please, tell me what it is so that I may help you."

Dante halts his movement for a few moments. Looking back at Garrett, locking eyes with him for only a second. "This way"

he says. He scans the air and ground as he walks, craning his neck oddly. His back arched and the small box and strange mask clutched tightly to his chest. He moves with an awkward gait, as if following some unseen trail.
After several minutes of silence and moving into town, he stops in front of the house of Celeste Allende, who adopted him so many years ago and had become his caretaker. The door was slightly ajar and several small crimson spots dotted the wood at the bottom of the frame. Dante blinked several times and blew some hair out of his face. "Not here anymore." He turned and began walking to the west.

The tall gaunt boy seems to shake with nervousness for a moment. Fixated on the ground. His eyes dart back and forth, and he mutters under his breath where is it? where is it?

He looks up at Garrett, catching his gaze for only a moment, then returns it to the ground. Fumbling, he clutches the strange dirty mask to his chest with the small box tucked under his arm. He almost whimpers "Have you seen a..." but his voice trails off before he can finish the thought.